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Saturday’s practice for the NASCAR Cup Series brought about a sequence of comments from drivers regarding what kind of racing we can expect at the newly configured Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Bubba Wallace said it was half superspeedway, half 1.5-mile racing style.
Other drivers called it “wild,” “nuts” and “chaos.”
RELATED: Updated odds for Atlanta Motor Speedway
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity races produced superspeedway-style drafting, evening out the playing field and giving the smaller teams a fighting chance.
That’s exactly where I’m looking with my best bet for Sunday‘s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) .
NASCAR Picks & Predictions for Atlanta
*Odds as of Sunday morning
This bet at DraftKings Sportsbook screams value, especially when you compare Chris Buescher to teammate Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, comes in at +800 to finish as the top Ford driver on Sunday afternoon. However, Keselowski’s teammate has an exemplary record himself.
Buescher has finished sixth or better four times in nine superspeedway races with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. That doesn’t include a disqualification at the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 where Buescher would have placed second.
One of those nine finishes included a finish as top Ford.
He also finished as the second-best Ford twice (if you count his disqualification as a second-place finish) and third-best Ford twice.
As we saw in the Truck and Xfinity Series, drivers across the spectrum of team sizes and budgets were able to make runs toward the front. Don’t count out this year’s second Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona race winner among your short list of drivers who could contend for the win at Atlanta. That also means a very strong shot to finish as top Ford.
My model gives Buescher an 8.9% chance to finish as top Ford. I’d feel comfortable betting this prop down to +1500 odds.
The Bet: Chris Buescher (+2500) for Top Ford